Guardians of the Galaxy -Review

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Guardians of the Galaxy is summer fun at it’s best. Great jokes, action, adventure, explosions and a fantastic soundtrack. This movie will have you cheering and laughing the whole time. Director James Gunn has created an incredible looking film. There may be CGI all over the screen, but you never for a minute don’t believe that everything you are seeing is “real”. This movie proves that CGI can be just as affective as practical, if it is done well. As an aside, this should give everyone hope for the new Star Wars movies, since they both Disney properties.

This is the latest film in the Marvel cinematic universe and you can tell they are a well-oiled machine. They are able to take the strangest ideas and make them work, talking raccoons and trees seem completely normal in the hands of such professionals. What is lacking is real heart. Everything in the movie is choreographed. Much of the movie tells the audience things instead of showing us. By the middle of the movie this band of miscreants goes from enemies to friends, which is said by the characters multiple times; basically, “Isn’t it nice that we’re friends now”. The problem is that the film does not establish enough of a reason for this change.

Another issue is some of the cast. Zoe Saldona lacks any emotional punch as Gamora. There are quite a few times she is telling a story or meant to make the audience feel something and it just falls flat. She perfect when asked to kick someone’s ass but fails when it’s most important for the tender moments. Dave Bautista will have you snickering at his inability to understand metaphors, even if he is also lacking in emotive ability, which is a detriment to his character’s story.Luckily, the rest of the cast is wonderful. Chris Pratt is a star , it’s official. He carries the entire film. Bradley Cooper who voices Rocket the raccoon and Vin Diesel as Groot are as close to Han and Chewie as has been seen in years.

One more criticism. A fun as the movie is, it doesn’t have much to say. It’s cotton candy, good as you taste it, but gone in a flash. It’s a problem with the Marvel line as a whole (Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a fortunate outlier). There is a formula for their team-up films as seen in Avengers and now continued in Guardians. It’s a problem. Marvel may have the corner on fun, but if they want their films to stand the test of time, it would behoove them to give them some gravitas.

Even with all of this, Guardians Of the Galaxy is the most fun you can have at the movies this summer and a spectacle not to be missed.

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